Lacking really disposable income in the past year, we figured Europe would have to wait another couple of years. Not being able to go to Europe, we decided to go to the next closest thing, Malacca, a city located in the west coast of the Malay peninsula with European influence dating back to the fifteenth century.
We took a 5hr bus journey across the border from Singapore, arriving in Malacca Sentral (the main bus station) at 3 PM. The Malaysian highway was great. At first, there wasn’t all that much difference with Indonesian highways. But then, in Malaysia, the highway was EMPTY. I mean, really, we are all so much used to the bumper-to-bumper on the highway, it was really bizarre to see absolutely NO TRAFFIC on a highway. What planet is this?? The bus (malacca express), however, was a tad 80s and the aircon was not working properly, better try another company next time. On arrival, we grabbed a classic mercedes cab and lugged our bags to Fenix Inn, before setting off to explore the small but historic city in the remains of the daylight. Yes, small, because it’s basically a city with only 2 big shopping centers (the Jakartan standard proxy for the size of a city), which are none as big as Plasa Senayan. But Malacca is a place that is so rich in history that I feel it is a huge museum of its own, full of old buildings and little streets.
We started at the town center, one of the major structures there is Stadthuys, which according to the Malacca website was built in 1650 as the official residence of Dutch Governors and Deputy Governors. Also painted in red is Christ Church, next to Christ Church building are various stalls selling a variety of handmade handicraft items. For those of you who would like something to bring home with, this would be one of the places to buy them. But do not commit too soon as the city holds many more places for souvenir hunting and such. Later that afternoon we walked out to the mouth of the Malacca river, the river that divides the historic quarter into two, to the right is the old commercial center chinatown and to the left is the colonial center which nestles at the foot of Bukit St. Paul. We then walked across the river where we entered chinatown, it is here that they have some excellent souvenir and antique shops. The chinatown also held a night market while we were there, which was good to look around. We tried a couple of local treats, bought a bag of instant teh tarik and a box of famous pineaple tarts. At one end of the street there was also a stage, around which people were sitting to watch the next great karaoke idol, very interesting! On the way back to our hotel, we stopped for cold beers at one of the street corner coffee shop, Geographer, with their dim, fan cooled interiors, open walls and a very good looking guy sitting across from our table, it was just a great way to end our day!
The next day, we wandered around again, seeing all the other sights and generally doing the tourist thing. St. Paul church was my favorite spot, Its ruins sit atop a hill that overlooks the strait of Malacca. Most of the tourist spots are located very close together around St. Paul’s hill. We visited quite a few of these on our second day there. Although it was very very hot, the historic city center is leafy. Even if you didn’t want to visit all the museums there, there are plenty of place to park your tired feet and enjoy a breeze.
Yes, again the city is small, but there are many more around Malacca apart from major historical landmarks or buildings. The old shop houses, the architectural style which is great for photo-taking, the souvenirs shops and delicious Malaccan food.
tequila shots for the soul 